Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a load control system for controlling the amount of power delivered to an electrical load, and more particularly, to a wireless lighting control system for controlling the intensity of one or more lighting loads according to a timeclock schedule.
Description of the Related Art
Home automation systems, which have become increasingly popular, may be used by homeowners to integrate and control multiple electrical and/or electronic devices in their house. For example, a homeowner may connect appliances, lights, blinds, thermostats, cable or satellite boxes, security systems, telecommunication systems, and the like to each other via a wireless network. The homeowner may control these devices using a controller or user interface provided via a phone, a tablet, a computer, and the like directly connected to the network or remotely connected via the Internet. These devices may communicate with each other and the controller to, for example, improve their efficiency, their convenience, and/or their usability.
Some prior art controllers of home automation systems have controlled electrical and/or electrical devices according to timeclock schedules stored in memory in the controllers. Such controllers use timers to keep track of the time of day and year so that the controllers are able to appropriately control the electrical and/or electrical devices at respective event times according to stored timeclock schedules. Typically, such a controller comprises a battery backup to maintain the present time and date in the event of a power loss to the controller. However, batteries are often large and costly and may be difficult to replace. In addition, batteries will eventually run out, at which time, the controller will be unable to maintain the time and date information to then correctly execute the timeclock schedule.
Therefore, there is a need for a controller for a load control system that is able to control electrical loads according to a timeclock schedule without the need for a battery backup.